Jeremy Lin has received a lot of knocks against him.

"He's too sloppy handling the ball."

"He's too undisciplined on defense." (See the questionable late Game 2 foul he committed on Damian Lillard.)

"He's too erratic on offense."

And that's just the short list.

But the bottom line is this: When the Houston Rockets have needed him during this first round of the NBA playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers, he's stepped up. Big time.

In overtime of Game 3, Lin's hustle turned a near-game-ending turnover from James Harden into the assist for Troy Daniels' magic 3-point shot that kept the Rockets alive in the series with their first win. And in Game 5, Lin, taking on added duty to help an ailing Patrick Beverley -- playing with a fever -- had the best postseason game of his career.

The stats say it all: 21 points, 9-of-15 shooting (60 percent) from the field, 4 assists and 2 steals in 31 minutes of action.

The secret? According to Lin, who was looking to rebound from a forgettable 1-for-6, 4-point night in Game 4 on Sunday, his game plan was simple: asserting himself.

"I just tried to be aggressive," Lin told The Associated Press after the game. "I felt like I needed to be a spark for the team."

That and the added minutes he played really made a difference, too, though he largely benefited from Beverley's 101-degree fever that limited Houston's starting point guard to only 21 minutes on the floor. Regardless of how he got more playing time, Lin got hot, buzzing around the court with timely passes, deadly accurate shooting and a truckload of confidence as the Rockets rode him and Dwight Howard to a 108-98 victory, giving them a chance to tie the series on Friday in Game 6 should they win in Portland.

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An interesting stat to note in this NBA playoff series is, in games where Lin has played 30-plus minutes, he's scored 13 points or more, shooting for at least 51.3 percent from the floor. (He's also averaging 12.3 shots during those games.) In Games 2 and 4, where he played only an averaged 23 minutes, Lin shot a combined 2-for-11 from the field for only 4.5 points during those two games. The bottom line? When asked to do more, Lin's been delivering on the offensive end. And with Beverley still under the weather and the Rockets battling for their season, Houston needs all hands on deck. And as history shows, a red-hot Lin can cause enough problems for opposing offenses to shift the momentum to his team.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. While Lin has had some memorable contributions so far during this Rockets' playoff run, there is no guarantee that he'll be getting that same level of playing time and shots in Friday's do-or-die Game 6. Heck, there's not even a guarantee that this recent stretch of solid play will make the Rockets consider having Lin play a bigger role -- or be a part of, in any fashion -- in their future plans.

Lin's three-year, $25 million deal expires next season, and with the Rockets due to shell out $14.9 million to Lin and Omer Asik -- tied for the second-highest contracts on the team, both scheduled to make more than even All-Star James Harden -- the Rockets' front office may not be so keen on keeping either of them around when they can commit that cap room to a Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo or any of the other premium free agents due to be up for grabs next summer.

There's not much control that Lin has over that. The Rockets are trying to build to win now, and maybe a third All-Star to accompany Harden and Howard is the right way to go -- in which case, Lin's time in Houston may be winding down. However, that's not to say that Lin can't make himself an attractive free agent for another team to land. Performing at a high level during the regular season is a difficult chore, one that requires months of excellence, conditioning and the avoidance of freak injuries (a few of them nagging Lin during the course of this season). But being a clutch playoff performer? That's invaluable to teams. And from his overtime hustle-turned-assist in Game 3 to his high-scoring Game 5, Lin has shown flashes of perhaps becoming such a player. Granted, he's not in the Paul Pierce-Michael Jordan-Reggie Miller rarified air of special NBA playoff performers, but with time, practice and a few more playing opportunities, who knows?

Is Lin a superstar? No, at least, not by the numbers, and at times, critics would argue, not even by his play. But can he be? Sure, with the right time to hone some of the finer aspects to his game. What the rest of his 2014 playoffs run may give Lin is a reason for other teams -- perhaps with better situations for him -- to take a chance on him when his contract expires. He's not perfect, by any means, but at 25 years old, he's a work in progress and with much potential. A strong finish in this year's playoffs may put Lin in position down the road to show just how far his potential really goes.

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